• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.2324-2331
• /
• 2024

The current study investigated Saudi Arabian oil fly ash impacts on Egyptian clay bricks' structural and radiation shielding properties. To produce the required bricks, crushed clay minerals from the Hafafit area were mixed with 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 % wt.% Saudi Arabian oil fly ash and pressed at a pressure rate of 68.55 MPa. Identification of the minerals in the chosen clay was achieved via X-ray diffraction. Additionally, the material's morphology and chemical composition were determined through scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive X-ray. The fabricated bricks' density was reduced by 36.3 % through increasing the concentration of fly ash from 0 to 40 wt%. Then, the fly ash addition's influence on the fabricated clay bricks' γ-ray shielding properties was investigated by Monte Carlo simulation, which found a reduction in the fabricated bricks' linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) by 41.2, 36.0, 33.8, and 33.8 % at the 0.059, 0.103, 0.662, and 1.252 MeV γ-ray energies, respectively. The LAC reduction caused an increase in the fabricated bricks' half-value thickness, transmission factor, and the equivalent thickness of the lead. Moreover, the thicker fabricated sample thicknesses were found to have high γ-ray shielding capacity and can thus be used in radiation shielding applications.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.144-152
• /
• 2006

The telemedicine using independent client-server system via networks can provide high quality normalized services to many hospitals, specifically to local/rural area hospitals. This will eventually lead to a decreased medical cost because the centralized institute can handle big computer hardware systems and complicated software systems efficiently and economically, Customized cancer radiation treatment planning for each patient Is very useful for both a patient and a doctor because it makes possible for the most effective treatment with the least possible dose to patient. Radiation planners know that too small a dose to the tumor can result in recurrence of the cancer, while too large a dose to healthy tissue can cause complications or even death. The best solution is to build an accurate planning simulation system to provide better treatment strategies based on each patient's computerized tomography (CT) image. We are developing a web-based and a network-based customized cancer radiation therapy simulation system consisting of four Important computer codes; a CT managing code for preparing the patients target data from their CT image files, a parallel Monte Carlo high-energy beam code (PMCEPT code) for calculating doses against the target generated from the patient CT image, a parallel linear programming code for optimizing the treatment plan, and scientific data visualization code for efficient pre/post evaluation of the results. The whole softwares will run on a high performance Beowulf PC cluster of about 100-200 CPUs. Efficient management of the hardware and software systems is not an easy task for a hospital. Therefore, we integrated our system into the client-sewer system via network or web and provide high quality normalized services to many hospitals. Seamless communication with doctors is maintained via messenger function of the server-client system.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.8-13
• /
• 2016

Dual energy cone-beam CT can distinguish two materials with different atomic compositions. The principle of dual energy cone-beam CT based on modulation layer is that higher energy spectrum can be acquired at blocked x-ray window. To evaluate the possibility of modulation layer based dual energy cone-beam CT, we analyzed x-ray spectrum for various thicknesses of modulation layers by Monte Carlo simulation. To compare with the results of simulation, the experiment was performed on prototype cone-beam CT for 50~100 kVp with CdTe XR-100T detector. As the result of comparing, the mean energy of energy spectrum for 80 kVp are well matched with that of simulation. The mean energy of energy spectrum for 80 and 120 kVp were increased as 1.67 and 1.52 times by 2.0 mm modulation layer, respectively. We realized that the virtual dual energy x-ray source can be generated by modulation layer.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.247-255
• /
• 2008

A coded aperture camera has been developed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) while keeping the spatial resolution of a pinhole gamma camera. The purpose of this study was to optimize a coded aperture camera and to evaluate its possibility for thyroid imaging by Monte Carlo simulation. A clinical gamma camera, a pinhole collimator with 1.0 mm hole diameter, and a $79{\times}79$ modified uniformly redundant array (MURA) mask were designed using GATE (Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission). The penetration ratio, spatial resolution, integral uniformity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were simulated and evaluated as a function of the mask thickness. The spatial resolution of the coded aperture camera was consistent with the various mask thickness, SNR showed a maximum value at 1.2 mm mask thickness and integral uniformity was improved by increasing mask thickness. Compare to the pinhole gamma camera, the coded aperture camera showed improved SNR by a factor of 30 while keeping almost the same spatial resolution. In this simulation study, the results indicated that high spatial resolution and ultra-high SNR of the thyroid imaging are feasible using a coded aperture camera.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.107-114
• /
• 2009

A Compton camera, which is based on Compton kinematics, is a very promising gamma-ray imaging device in that it could overcome the limitations of the conventional gamma-ray imaging devices. In the present study, the image quality of a rotating Compton camera was evaluated by using 4-D Monte Carlo simulation technique and the applicability to nuclear industrial applications was examined. It was found that Compton images were significantly improved when the Compton camera rotates around a gamma-ray source. It was also found that the 3-D imaging capability of a Compton camera could enable us to accurately determine the 3-D location of radioactive contamination in a concrete wall for decommissioning purpose of nuclear facilities. The 4-D Monte Carlo simulation technique, which was applied to the Compton camera fields for the first time, could be also used to model the time-dependent geometry for various applications.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.56-67
• /
• 2019

In this study, we analyzed the intensity attenuation for M 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0 earthquakes using the broadband strong ground motion simulation platform based on the physical seismic modeling developed by the US Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). The location of the earthquake was assumed to be near the epicenter of the 2016 M 5.8 Gyeongju earthquake, but two of the representative US regional models provided by the SCEC strong ground motion simulation platform were used for the propagation model. One is the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) model representing the intraplate region, and the other is the LA Basin model representing the interplate region. Five modeling methodologies are presented in the version 16.5 of the simulation platform, and Song and Exsim models were used in this study. In the analysis, we found that different intensity attenuation patterns can be observed with the same magnitude of earthquakes, especially depending on the region (CEUS vs LA Basin). Given the same magnitude and distance, the instrumental intensity in the CEUS region (intraplate) could be larger by a unit of 2 than that in the LA Basin region (interplate). Given the difference of intensity attenuation patterns observed in the study, it is important to know the regional intensity attenuation characteristics to understand the accurate level of seismic hazard imposed in the Korean Peninsula. This study also shows the level of the uncertainty of intensity attenuation if region specific attenuation characteristics are not considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.190.1-190.1
• /
• 2016

One of the most serious problems faced by billions of people today is the availability of fresh water. According to statistics, 15% of the world's total output of dye products is discharged into the environment as dye wastewater, which seriously pollutes groundwater resources. For the treatment of chemically and biologically contaminated water the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) shows the promising action. The main advantage with AOPs is the ability to degrade the organic pollutants to $CO_2$ and $H_2O$. For this degradation process the AOPs generation of powerful and non-selective radicals that may oxidize majority of the organic pollutants present in the water body. To generate the various reactive chemical species such as radicals (${\bullet}OH$, ${\bullet}H$, ${\bullet}O$, ${\bullet}HO_2$) and molecular species ($H_2O_2$, $H_2$, $O_2$) in large amount in water, we have used the atmospheric pressure plasma. Among the reactive and non-reactive species, the hydroxyl radical (${\bullet}OH$) plays important role due to its higher oxidation potential (E0: 2.8 V). Therefore, in this work we have checked the degradation of various dyes such as methyl orange, methylene blue and congo red using different type of atmospheric pressure plasma sources (Indirect jet and direct jet). To check the degradation we have used the UV-visible spectroscopy, HPLC and LC-MS spectroscopy. Further, to estimate role of ${\bullet}OH$ on the degradation of dyes we have studied the molecular dynamic simulation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.111-115
• /
• 2017

Blood pressure is one of the important vital signs for monitoring the medical condition of a patient. Automated NIBP(non-invasive blood pressure) monitoring devices calculate systolic and diastolic blood pressures from the oscillation in cuff pressure caused by a pulsation of an artery. To validate the NIBP devices, we developed a simulator to supply the oscillometric waveforms obtained from human subjects. The simulator provided pressure pulses to device-under-test and device readings were compared to the auscultatory references. Fully automated simulation system including OCR(optical character recognition) were developed and used for NIBP monitoring devices. The validation results using the simulator agreed well with previous clinical validation. More validation studies using the standardized oscillometric waveforms would be required for the replacement of clinical trials to validate a new automated NIBP monitoring device.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.1633-1649
• /
• 2017

In remote sensing image processing, the traditional fusion algorithm is based on the Intensity-Hue-Saturation (IHS) transformation. This method does not take into account the texture or spectrum information, spatial resolution and statistical information of the photos adequately, which leads to spectrum distortion of the image. Although traditional solutions in such application combine manifold methods, the fusion procedure is rather complicated and not suitable for practical operation. In this paper, an improved IHS transformation fusion algorithm based on the local variance weighting scheme is proposed for remote sensing images. In our proposal, firstly, the local variance of the SPOT (which comes from French "Systeme Probatoire d'Observation dela Tarre" and means "earth observing system") image is calculated by using different sliding windows. The optimal window size is then selected with the images being normalized with the optimal window local variance. Secondly, the power exponent is chosen as the mapping function, and the local variance is used to obtain the weight of the I component and match SPOT images. Then we obtain the I' component with the weight, the I component and the matched SPOT images. Finally, the final fusion image is obtained by the inverse Intensity-Hue-Saturation transformation of the I', H and S components. The proposed algorithm has been tested and compared with some other image fusion methods well known in the literature. Simulation result indicates that the proposed algorithm could obtain a superior fused image based on quantitative fusion evaluation indices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
• /
• 2002.09a
• /
• pp.116-118
• /
• 2002

It has been noted that Monte Carlo simulations are the most accurate method to calculate dose distributions in any material and geometry. Monte Carlo transport algorithms determine the absorbed dose by following the path of representative particles as they travel through the medium. Accurate Monte Carlo dose calculations rely on detailed modeling of the radiation source. We modeled the effects of beam modifiers such as collimators, blocks, wedges, etc. of our accelerator, Varian Clinac 600C/D to ensure accurate representation of the radiation source using the EGSnrc based BEAM code. These were used in the EGSnrc based DOSXYZ code for the simulation of particles transport through a voxel based Cartesian coordinate system. Because Monte Carlo methods use particle-by-particle methods to simulate a radiation transport, more particle histories yield the better representation of the actual dose. But the prohibitively long time required to get high resolution and accuracy calculations has prevented the use of Monte Carlo methods in the actual clinical spots. Our ultimate aim is to develop a Monte Carlo dose calculation system designed specifically for radiation therapy planning, which is distinguished from current dose calculation methods. The purpose of this study in the present phase was to get dose calculation results corresponding to measurements within practical time limit. We used parallel processing and some variance reduction techniques, therefore reduced the computational time, preserving a good agreement between calculations of depth dose distributions and measurements within 5% deviations.